The Ruling on Reciting the Mufassal Suras in Prayer

Question

All the books of fiqh prescribe reciting the mufassal suras in prayer, and among the sunnas of prayer one sunna is mentioned — the sunna recitation (qira’a masnuna). However, it is commonly seen that imams do not observe this at all; rather, they recite the long mufassal suras in maghrib, or Surah al-Baqara and the like in ‘isha’. Does this practice of the imams fall under the definition of abandoning the sunna or not? And what is the status of reciting in this way from the standpoint of the Shari‘a?

Answer

The sunna (masnun) way is indeed to recite the mufassal suras most of the time; however, if one occasionally does otherwise, that too will not be judged makruh (disliked). At the same time, consideration for the followers (muqtadis) is also important.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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